Rise of the Dragons Five
by Element's Sole Protector
Summary: A series of small snapshots of the five Signers, from A to Z. Humorous and solemn notes abound! Crow is not a Signer in this - it was started before that scrap of knowledge came to light. Recently called 'Of Few Words'.
1. Apathy

I'm back in Yu-gi-oh! 5D's territory, typing up something I have enjoyed creating very much. It doesn't really have a specific time period—it jumps through episodes I've seen to things I guess about, and some may or may not be real.

Behold my A-Z short (emphasis here) scenes. Hope you like.

* * *

Of Few Words

* * *

-**Apathy**-

Rex Goodwin spoke lightly Jack Atlas's way: "It will be interesting to see what occurs in your duel, no matter _which_ Signer wins the current one."

Jack, watching his former friend and most frightening possible opponent, merely shrugged in disinterest.

"I guess..."


	2. Bitter Exchange

I should have posted this _months_ ago. This is mainly season one stuff combined with my own wishes, if I didn't express that before.

I don't own this lovely series. In fact, I haven't seen it, against my own will, in three months. Can someone please send me the episodes? (cries)

Here comes the second letter of the alphabet...

* * *

Of Few Words

* * *

-**Bitter Exchange**-

They crossed paths by accident, and neither seemed all that happy to meet. Divine snarled openly; Goodwin's lips merely thinned.

They were sharp with each other, using their general-of-their-respective-army voices.

"It is only a matter of time. Akiza is a Signer. Her destiny is to help awawken the Crimson Dragon. You cannot stop her."

"I do not _have_ to. Dear Akiza can think for herself, unlike others I could name. She is a psychic; she will join the Arcadia Movement, let her powers loose and destroy your Yliaster--after destroying your current lackey in this duel."

"Fool!" A laugh from the Director. "Your stupidity will have you crumbling at our feet someday. And I will not accept your misguided pleas for mercy."

"We _will_ destroy you, Goodwin, and all you stand for and with. I will see your pretty tower in the sky crumble to the ground; mark my words!"

"Good sir, I would like to see you actually _try_."

* * *

I tend to use Divine's name, because I think his dub name is the stupidest one ever, and I've been watching Yu-gi-oh! dubs for years. So, even though I hate the man, I give him that courtesy.

Ah, my cat is meowing for something. Letter C is next, very soon. Please review, and I hope you're enjoying the--eh? Two chapters? ...Need to keep working, then...


	3. Cold Front

The advent of one of my personal favorites. And Yusei _finally_ stars...

The first few of these letters seem to be focused on Yusei and Akiza's duel and the events surrounding, in case of any bemusement.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Cold Front**-

Yusei Fudo couldn't help but think that his mark burning was probably the hottest thing in this entire duel--or, rather, the entire _stadium_. The high passions had nothing on it.

Trying to reach Akiza Izinski was almost like wearing six layers of clothing and _still_ struggling to stay upright in a snowstorm. The Black Rose Witch did not trust him or like him, and she made that clear each time she ignored his attempts to understand her, and when she played a trap that would further ensnare his monsters, and, because of her powers, him.

"Still trying to _understand me_?" she taunted, when she had reduced his life points drastically once again.

He replied softly: "I just want to help you, Akiza..."

She made her silence the equivalent of a cold front that sliced through him and made him shiver.

* * *

It may not have seemed it from that snapshot, but I'm a _huge_ Yuusei/Aki/Yusei/Akiza fan. :P

And I can't figure out whether to use her dub surname Izinski, which sounds a little odd, or to mix original and dub and use Izayoi, which I am fond of. Wish I had a surname like that.


	4. Delight

Arrgh, Divine is in this one. Well, he's _mentioned_.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Delight**-

She could not stop smiling as Divine led her further into the darkness of the unknown underground.

Such delight had not been present in her life since she had been a child. Barely a little girl, she had met her parents each afternoon, welcomed them with a bouquet of fresh, beautiful flowers from their own carefully tended garden.

Yusei had done her a service even Divine could hardly live up to. She couldn't remember being so highly regarded, complimented, and especially not by any man...

Yes, she was delighted to imagine that Yusei Fudo thought her to be as beautiful and special as the flowers she had once held in her tiny, much younger arms.

"Come, Akiza..."


	5. Empathy

This one's a little longer. I think from here, they don't take a measly two minutes to type. Quality is in quantity, don't you agree?

Still don't own. I like both of Ruka/Luna's names, and can almost say the same for Rua/Leo. Almost.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Empathy**-

_Maybe I'm the only one who noticed it_.

Luna rubbed her arm, which was starting to burn, and continued to wonder. Her eyes had never played tricks on her (she'd seen _Duel Spirits_, for crying out loud), so she seriously doubted they were doing so now. When they had met in the hallway, Akiza had betrayed one sad emotion, one moment of weakness, and Luna had felt it like the emotions were her own. She had felt that through the Duel Spirits, too.

_Empathy_, Yusei had called it when she'd asked him about the feeling. _Not sympathy, which is feeling sorry for another person. Empathy is in a way feeling what _they _feel--knowing it, recognizing it, because you've been there, felt that before._

Sitting still and quiet in the stands, she decided that although Yusei, valiant as he could be, understood the _definition_ of the word and was trying to show the Black Rose Witch how it connected them, he did not, _could not_ empathize with a pain like _Akiza's_. He'd been to the surface, but not to the entire planet.

But she had. With one glance. It was like being admitted into the young woman's _soul_.

One touch of the minds, of the emotions, and she had seen _Akiza_.

_Empathy is powerful_, she heard Yusei stress in her memories, _because it's harder for people to notice or embody._

_Yes, I'm definitely the only one who saw_.

* * *

I'm in agreement with anyone who might suggest that Yusei has a bit of a mentor-to-student role when it comes to Luna/Ruka and Leo/Rua in the anime. It seems to be a relationship that formed unconsciously.


	6. Five

This one, I believe, shall be the last of the night (another longer one). I really want to rest my fingers all of a sudden. Fear not, there are many more ready in the wings. Please review--I won't expect any today since this is just its newborn day, but I'd like to know what people think.

I'm mixing terms again. I just _love_ the original show and some aspects of the dub, so why not have them together? I refer to "Red Dragon Archfiend" as "Red Daemon's Dragon" because I liked the original name the moment I learned of it from watching the original season one.

(chuckle) I notice that both Luna and Leo have now used the expression "for crying out loud" in this fic. It's a fluke, I swear! (ducks for arrows)

In my mind, it would have been pretty cool under other circumstances to have Signer twins--but I don't think Leo is mature, or maybe _downcast_, enough for the job. It seems that Signers have to have a bit of an eye for darkness combined with the inner strength, wisdom and maturity to get the job done--whatever the _real_ job is.

And anyway, I had my own hopes for the fifth Signer, as expresssed subtly here--and I've heard through the Web grapevine that they were shot down. Sigh...

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Five**-

Leo's mind was fairly straightforward, as was to be expected as the "oldest" of the twins, and he just could not understand why destiny had not seen fit to choose _him_ as the fifth (and maybe coolest) Signer.

And so _what_ if that desire made him the tiniest bit irrational?

"It wasn't _destiny_, Leo," Luna would sign impatiently each time he expostulated his disbelief. "According to Goodwin, the People of the Stars from long ago chose us. There are only five marks and five Dragons. --I'm sorry, Leo, but that's just the way it is!"

"But," he protested each time, "but are you _sure_ he said that there are only five, that _he_ was one--"

"_Yes, I'm sure!_ True, I was trying to keep Yusei and Jack from snarling at each other at the time, but I heard every word he said. He has some dragon to represent him; I have Ancient Fairy Dragon; Jack has Red Daemon's Dragon; Yusei has Stardust Dragon; and Akiza has Black Rose Dragon. You having Power Tool Dragon is just a coincidence--and Goodwin would have explained it to you directly, but you were being so annoying that he had to kick you out!"

"Annoying?! Who's the younger twin here?" Then, remembering that he was addressing his sister the Signer: "_Please_, Luna, it _has to_ be us both! We're _twins_, for crying out loud, and Goodwin's just an old guy who happens to know a lot of stuff about the Signers--it isn't right or fair that he _is_ one too!"

Luna's lip quivered; she bit it to keep it still. "I'm really sorry, Leo. But I have no control over any of this, and I have less and less of that none every day I wake up to it. --I wish you _were_ a Signer! Being the youngest one is a burden like you wouldn't believe... I wish my twin brother was one of the five I could wake up to it all with."

Leo had never been so strange as to hate a number before, but a number had never dared to exclude him from any important thing with such finality. Never had a number offended him in such a way.

Five Signers, one his twin, and he could not be a part of them?

Fine. Let them struggle without him. The People of the Stars had obviously underestimated his dueling expertise--hopefully not fatally, because he so dearly loved his sister. His _younger_ sister. Who had been picked as a Signer _over him_.

Fine, then.


	7. Greatness

I'm so excited to be back. Writing one about Jack, whom I hated for the first ten or so episodes of season one and then learned to love because... well, he reminded me of Kaiba! He was just so cute and unconvinced that magic _is_ real! _Is that so wrong_, I ask?

...Okay, maybe it was, but I like Jack for who he is now. And he gets to brag on himself. All is well.

Oh, yeah--he uses the dub nickname for himself. Let me say now--we _both_ think that nickname's stupid. What was wrong with Duel King?

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Greatness**-

It was his own personal characteristic, his embodiment; it singled him out.

Jack was greatness--he was every part of it, for it both emptied and filled him. No one could or had the right to disrespect him--he had fought his way to the top, knocked aside lesser competition, and pushed away Satellite scum to become the proud, unbeatable "Master of Faster"--even though he secretly thought that was the stupidest nickname in history.

Now he was revered all over New Domino City (stupid nickname or no) --children idolized him, women swooned over him in the streets, and men across the city envied his position next to some of the most powerful people around. He knew greatness. Greatness knew him. They recognized each other as kin.

And now, becuase enough greatness was of course _never_ enough, the mark he'd had from birth apparently _meant something_--named him a Signer: one of the most important people in the universe.

_The greatness in and of me increases..._

_Fine with me. I can handle it easily._

He was mightier than many, now--so very many.

So then, why did he still feel so out-of-place and lonely?

* * *

The 'mutual recognizings of greatness' lines (a person recognizing an abstract) were inspired long ago by the slang term "Game recognizes game". Just thought I'd throw that tidbit of info in.


	8. Heart

Wow, this one's really short--I mean tiiiiny. Then again, it was barely a blip in my mind--like a five second YouTube video.

Behold...

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Heart**-

"For heaven's sake," Yusei cried in frustration, in disgust, in annoyance, "have you any heart at all? Or is it just as mechanical and cold as your arm?"

Goodwin only smiled superciliously and did not answer.


	9. Illustrate

Thank you, reviewers! --Eh heheh, that'd only be **KnightxXxWitch** right now, to whom I am eternally grateful. Thank you much!

A bit of a ha-ha joke in this one. I made a really ...-ish joke and tied it into an idea that exploded into my mind:

_What if Yusei could draw really really REALLY well? What would that insanely hot man draw_?

Another one about Akiza and Yusei... :D

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Illustrate**-

Akiza leaned over his shoulder, quietly redirecting his attention. "What are you drawing?"

Yusei looked up from the worn pad he was sketching on and smiled. "Just some stuff."

She snatched his drawing and beheld the five of them in separate poses, each half-folded in the wings of their respective dragons. Her eyebrows rose; he was good at drawing. _Really_ good.

A picture rose in her mind, of imaginary evenings where Yusei might have showcased drawings of Duel Runners to his friends, to Jack, blueprints of their shared dream, back before Jack and Yusei had lost sight of each other. She even imagined moments in the future, where Yusei might show such sketches to _her_, in front of a dinner table or a warm fire. She pushed the thoughts away with a blush.

Anyway, he _was_ really good.

"How long has this taken you?"

"...Oh, fifteen to twenty-seven minutes."

Akiza spluttered. "What! B-but--that's how long Jack's been talking to us about the Satellite and New Domino!"

"Exactly," Yusei said absently, azure eyes gleaming mischievously.

* * *

If anyone could actually _draw_ the Signers 'folded within the wings of their respective dragons', and include Goodwin for my peace of mind (or Crow, love him too), I'd love to see the link.


	10. Jinx

Another funny-not funny joke. Ha.

Yusei and Jack need a happy-kid moment, don't you think?

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Jinx**-

They were assembled in Goodwin's living room in the dead of night. Akiza was sleeping on the couch; Luna was sitting on said couch's arm, nibbling on a piece of toast; and Yusei and Jack were in comfortable armchairs facing the latter's mentor, who was pacing...

...and decidedly _not _amused.

"What I'm trying to get the two of you hopeless, ever-competing _fools_ to understand," Goodwin stressed, ever impatient, "is that no one person or dragon is more important than anyone else here. _Therefore_, no beast may 'trump' another; there is no 'which is better'."

At the same time, Yusei and Jack, made mulish by hours of argument, muttered "Mine", then "Jinx, fool."

Each glared at the other. The glares turned into renewed arguing. Soon they were on the floor again.

Goodwin smacked his forehead with his good hand. _That blood will NEVER come out._

Luna muffled her giggles into her own hands.


	11. Knockout

I just _had_ to post this one today. It makes me laugh, and _I_ wrote it! It's waaay futuristic.

I don't own 5D's, the Nintendo Wii (or even _a_ Nintendo Wii, geez), or Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, the most epic-win battle game _ever_.

...Ah, see, now I've got you curious!

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Knockout**-

"_Yes!_"

Akiza, who was trying to read a novel, grumbled in annoyance; Luna prepared herself to watch the replay and flexed her fingers.

"KO, Jack! I won the Sudden Death round. Now the score's seven to six--in _my_ favor."

Jack swore too silently (hopefully) for Luna to hear; he glared at Yusei, who looked smug as they both put down their Wii controllers.

"That," he promised his rival, "will be the last time I play _Brawl_ with you."

"And leave the score where it stands?" Yusei teased. "That's not like you, Jack. Where's your old 'I'm the best' spirit? Goodwin won't be back for an hour--how about three more battles, just to declare a winner?"

Jack's violet eyes gleamed; as he gave his assent and readied himself once again for battle...

...Luna snatched away his controller .

"Hey! _What _are you doing?!"

Luna crossed her arms. "I take winners, remember? Now move--you'll still have at _least_ two battles."

Jack growled her way, moved grudgingly at Yusei's prompting, killer blue glare, and decided that Luna was lucky she was an _important_ little kid.

* * *

I'd like to imagine that, had Goodwin been a Signer, the other four would've been more relaxed when he wasn't around. Yeah.

And if Akiza had been playing, she'd have beat them all--including Goodwin. ;D Just thought you all might wonder.


	12. Laterals and Laughter

Well, this one's a little... I won't call it 'dark'. It's greyer than the others, but it's a little bonding moment between Akiza and Jack. I don't see a lot of those.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Laterals and Laughter**-

"It's best if no one sees your true self at all, actually," he remarked lightly. It was an interesting argument, and she hadn't gotten his hackles up about anything--yet.

She nodded, and took the more serious view of things. "That way, no one sees the space inside you. No one can truly hurt you."

Jack rolled his eyes. "More like 'No one can _manipulate_ you'. _If _you don't let them into your heart yourself."

It was veiled blame, a pointing finger in the dark to past wrongs, past stupidity.

"Hey." Akiza scowled. "I trusted Divine. He did not 'manipulate' me--only the 'Black Rose Witch' mask, the lateral face I let him see. He only controlled what I showed the world, not so long ago. And besides--do you not frequently let Goodwin 'manipulate' _you_?"

"No, I don't!"

"Of course you do."

He huffed and turned away. In the shadows, Akiza smiled.

"...Ha ha... ha ha ha ha!"

"What?"

He smiled grimly. "That's... I think that's the first time I've ever laughed here. In New Domino. You're the first person who's ever taken down my shell here other than Yusei--and not the lateral shell, either."

"You should try to laugh more often, then."

"Huh?"

"Thanks to Yusei... and this... the Signers... I've laughed more than I ever did in my whole life, so much that I hardly recognize myself anymore. It was good, letting him see my true face."

"...Mine too," Jack conceeded, "maybe." The idea took a lot of getting used to.

"Although... I hope your true face doesn't look like _this_." She poked his cheek.

"Hey!"

Akiza strolled away from the shadows, laughing out loud; Jack watched her go, shaking his head in both doubt and wonder.

_I am _not_ hideous. Not, not, not_...

She stopped at the street corner.

"Come _on_, Jack. They're waiting. Put your mask back on."


	13. Moons and Mischief

I have **100** total reviews for all twenty of my stories (er, five each average?)! I find that awesome, yet wish I had a feeeeew more...

Another Luna/Ruka-themed one. Close to being my all-time favorite, yet at the same time not even close.

This one kind of introduces the Dark Signers as a threat, incidentally. And Lazar/Jeager's in it. Hate that guy.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Moons and Mischief**-

The light of the moon shone down gently onto everything, creating shadows and illuminating that which had beauty. Luna's eyes matched the moon's remarkable color and relected it back through the spotless windows.

_The moon's so pretty tonight._

"Luna," Goodwin called (almost gently), "we need your input."

Sighing, she turned around to rejoin the "class"; at the same time, a flicker at the edge of her mind let her know that the Duel Spirits were trying to tell her something only slightly important.

"My many sources have warned me that there is a group, a powerful force, that is after both our power and the power possessed by the Crimson Dragon--and they will stop at nothing to get either one."

_Luna._

"How serious is this?"

_Luna, it's us._

"Who are they? Do they know us?"

_It's Leo, Luna! Listen to us!_

_Leo?_ Luna jolted to life, started listening at last to the Duel Spirits' frantic warnings. _What about my brother?_

_He's--_

CRASH!

_There_.

Everyone jumped. Leo had burst into the room and had fallen over, exposed as an eavesdropper by Lazar, ever faithful clown-servant (Luna's own nickname for him). She gave him a dirty look; he returned it with a sinister smile before backing out of the doorway once more.

"Yes, well then," Goodwin said coolly, glaring Leo's way; he was indignant at his speech's being cut at the knees by a mere boy. And not even that important of a boy, either. "I suppose we are lucky that this little _interruption_ was a mischievous one and not of dark relations."

Luna groaned.

Leo blushed.


	14. Nadir

The dark one, the very dark-scenario one, to be countered by its opposite much later.

To do this one, I composed a list of each Signer's "lowest point". It was pretty fun...in a less-than-happy sort of way.

Now that I'm over halfway there in typing, I feel inspired to write everything that comes after 'S' again...

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Nadir**-

_I never thought I'd come back to something like this._

Rain spilled from the heavens in torrents, trying in vain to flood and wash away the evil of the world. In the darkest and most hidden depths of the Satellite, it found its way through cracks in the buildings and utterly soaked Yusei and Jack's hair. Akiza and Luna had psychically-created barriers that shielded them from dampness; both were gloomy enough without it. Even Goodwin was tense at the doorway, listening for signs of the enemy.

"There's no one around," Akiza murmured brokenly. _No one, because we've failed._ "I can tell. Stop your useless watch."

"It is not useless," Goodwin shot back, "when Dark Signers have taken New Domino, set the Satellite afire, and continued to enslave more people--such as your precious Arcadia Movement leader, _Divine_."

_Not to mention taken my seat of power..._

"The rain has put _out_ the fire, in case you hadn't noticed," Jack put in coolly. He did not really care that he had just contradicted his benefactor--Carly was gone, Mina was gone, and everything was wrong.

"Enough!"

Yusei held up his hand, stopping any conflict before it could come to blows; his friends were either dead or missing, Martha was presumed dead, and innocent children had been sacrificed to the sick whim of the enemy; the five of them were weak from struggles few could imagine, and fighting would help _nothing_.

"As Goodwin pointed out, there are Dark Signers out there who are out for our blood. We can't summon the Crimson Dragon to our aid now. People are getting hurt. We need to rise from our ashes, and make everything right again. We _must_ defeat our adversaries--or all is lost!"

"Easy for _you_ to say."

Everyone jerked in place, looked around--it was the first time Luna had spoken in a quarter of an hour, and the bitterness of her tone startled them; she never,_ never_ quarreled or disagreed with Yusei in any way. Her silences now made her look as though she was frozen in time; before, Yusei had had to carry her out of her high-rise apartment to safety, so frozen was she.

Luna's voice shook even now, so many miles away from that horror. "You think that _you've _all got it bad? My brother... my twin brother... is _gone. Gone..._"

One could not tell whether there was rain on Luna's cheeks or tears, now.

* * *

Nadir, based on my dictionary rummagings long ago, means the "lowest point".


	15. Omnipotent

A bit of a lighter one now.

This scene kind of reminds me of _Half-Blood Prince._ I think you'll all see why at the end.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Omnipotent**-

Goodwin said softly, "I'm not all-knowing, you know... Many years of research and travel, as well as hard work, are behind all that I have learned--as well as the loss of a fully-functioning arm." He chuckled, ever so lightly.

Akiza's brown eyes remained solemn.

"I will admit that a part of me enjoyed hanging tidbits of information over all your heads, before."

"Yes, we figured that part out." She paused, looking away a moment, then turned back his way. Her eyes glimmered.

It looked, Goodwin realized, as though she were swallowing her (very prominent) pride.

"So... how did you _really_ lose your arm, O Omnipotent One?"

He laughed. Her expression didn't even flinch.

"Sit down with me, 'child'... it is a long, thrilling tale..."


	16. Pretense

You could say this one took place before what I like to call 'Signer union'--have they even achieved it yet?--or during, though the tense makes that one a little difficult. (looks it over) Yeah, definitely past. Why are all the Goodwin-Jack ones (two) in the _past_? I know not.

I know Goodwin didn't actually go to the Satellite to recruit Jack. Jeager did, which I think was a stupid move; yet equally fitting for the Jack-Who-Was-Currently-the-Traitor. (I saw the episode.)

Were I Jack, I would have asked this question of Goodwin based on the first few episodes on top of all the backstory. Of course, were I Goodwin, I would have picked Yusei over Jack anyway.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Pretense**-

"Was it really Yusei you wanted, Goodwin? Be honest for once!"

Goodwin put a gloved hand on Jack's shoulder. "And why ever would you think such a thing as _that_?"

"Don't be pretentious!" Jack shook with fury. "The last _two years_ of my life have been brought into question, and all because I find you taking an interest in Yusei Fudo! You said you came to the Satellite to recruit _me_, that I was the only one who could fulfill your steep requirements and gain your interest, warrant your protection--yet now I see you taking pains to satisfy _him_!"

Sighing, Goodwin shook his head. "Calm your temper, Jack. Yusei is treated as a criminal here, while you are worshipped; he has had to simple recycle the worst of life, while all things new and good have fallen into your lap, or been handed to you. Are you trying to say that you _envy_ him?"

_Of course not!_ Jack fumed inwardly; but something on the tip of his tongue told him that Goodwin had never been completely honest with him when it came to Yusei. Not _ever_.

How did that affect his status today, right now? He wanted to know why _he_ was where he was.

"You didn't answer my question! All those years ago,--"

Goodwin cut him off firmly. "I do not ever intend to answer such a presumptuous question. It is an insult to my choosing of you--my mindset and my values... And whether I concern myself with Yusei Fudo is my own business." He looked Jack straight in the face with his pale, strangely-colored eyes and smiled almost deviously. "A question for _you_ now: did you honestly ever _expect_ me to answer you?"

Mutely, Jack shook his head in the negative.

The smile widened.

"I did not think so, Duel King."


	17. Quit

Happy birthday, Harry Potter! Your thirtieth, I believe? Geez. Don't die on us.

...And with that out of the way...

I find it interesting that this scene (or some of it) actually _happened_ in an episode. I did want Leo/Rua to tone his presence down once all of the Signers were revealed, but when he up and tried to quit I wanted to shake him. Idiot. Don't you know anything about Duel Monsters? Some people are _meant_ to be cheerleaders for the heroes. ;P

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Quit**-

"You can't just _quit_!"

Unhindered by his twin's words, Leo just walked all the faster to get away. He refused to hear her useless excuses; to his hopelessness and despair they meant nothing.

"I'm leaving, Luna. Don't try to stop me."

"Leo, _please_!"

This cry _did_ make him stop; he stayed silent as Luna ran and caught up to him, panting with the effort (well, he _could_ get around quickly, you know). Her mark shone, reminding him of their most painful difference as twins.

She finally regained her breath. "Is this your final decision?"

"What else would it be?"

Luna stamped her foot in frustration, forgetting the lucky break she'd gotten in Leo's mind, having such responsibility thrust upon her at eleven. "It's not fair!"

"You're a _Signer_!" Leo cried, eyes sparking angrily. "And I'm _not_! How is _that_ fair? How can you possibly need me when you have the power and I _don't_? I'm worth nothing to you."

"That's not true! That's NOT TRUE!"

He was halted by the volume and sincerity in her voice, along with the indignance hidden in it. "What?"

Luna stopped shouting and sighed morosely. "I've told you a hundred times how lonely I am here... even with the others! What in the world do you think I would do without you here?"

"You'd be fine- "

"I need you, twin. Don't leave me alone now- don't quit on me."

Leo found himself looking at his sadness in a new way as he took his sister's hand wordlessly. He should have known his beloved twin wouldn't ever _let_ him give up, and certainly not so easily.

"Okay. I won't quit. I won't."


	18. Reaction

One about Akiza and Luna...the only one for now in this fic, sadly, but I do think the girls get along the most among the five, other than Yusei and Luna and, later on, Yusei and Akiza.

Can't you tell from her rambling that Luna watches Akiza's every move? (laughs) Dude, _child stalker_.

Or maybe she's just an overzealous fangirl. (shrugs)

(moans to world) Oh Goodwin, you _traitor_...

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Reaction**-

"I always liked you best, you know," Akiza remarked softly. She smiled. The smile was partly present because she had expected Luna to react in the completely opposite way from... _this._

"What?"

"Yes."

"But- _me_? I mean- but, you like Yusei (you don't send him away when he comes to talk to you), and you're pretty tolerant of Jack even though you roll your eyes at every obnoxious thing he says... Obviously you distrust Goodwin (I mean, we _all_ do sometimes), but... but... _me?_"

"You're the closest Signer I can relate to. Not just because we're both girls- we possess psychic powers, have similar Dragon Marks, and... you were the friendliest to me from the start."

Luna sat, bemused. "I don't understand."

"I was alone in a lake of my own sorrow for so long... when Yusei dove in, he tried too hard to pull me out; I resisted him in a knee-jerk reaction. Jack was content to let me fight my own way out- but you, Luna... you let _me_ come to _you_. You stayed where you were and let me find you; you told me, without words, that you would be there for me if I needed you- _when_ I needed you. That's why you're my favorite."

Luna did eventually smile, but it took the smile a good, precious while to materialize and fix.


	19. Supercells and Sentries

My favorite at last. As long as it deserves to be.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Supercells and Sentries**-

An arc of lightning skated across the sky, birthed from smoky-gray clouds.

Rain pounded upon the island, wiping away two sets of footprints that overlapped and twice encircled a grand, proud mansion- which hardly mattered, as the owners of said prints would soon be back around to mark the dirt again.

At the moment, Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas were patrolling silently around the perimeter of Rex Goodwin's mansion, passing the front and pausing a moment as some noise came from behind the door.

BOOM.

Said door opened, startling both, and Luna stuck her head out hesitantly, gazing around until her eyes lit on them. Akiza Izinski appeared behind her, her face unruffled. Both were wearing long, trailing nightgowns.

Luna's eyes were overcast. "I don't like this weather."

BOOM.

Yusei's watchful blue eyes softened. He looked to Akiza. "You two should be in bed. It's dangerous out here..."

He left unspoken the threat posed by the things beyond the storm.

"It's dangerous for you too," the Black Rose retorted, gesturing to their thin raincoats.

Jack shrugged. "They were all Goodwin had."

Lightning flashed and hit water nearby; Luna squealed and jumped a foot in the air, clutching her nightgown more tightly to her. Near the garden, thunder howled like a mad dog.

Akiza stroked her fellow psychic's green hair. "Shhh... you'll wake Goodwin."

"The lightning won't hurt you," Yusei reassured the whimpering girl. Jack even patted the youngest Signer's hair, earning a look of admiration and gratitude from the young girl.

He turned next to Yusei. "Goodwin's asleep?"

"Hardly."

They all flinched and the girls turned - Goodwin was standing in the hall behind Akiza and Luna, fully dressed and looking significantly amused.

"I have been doing research, and watching you patrol," he told the two young men. "Did you think anyone could sleep long during a supercell such as this?" This was addressed to Akiza, who blushed in response.

"Supercell...?" Luna murmured questioningly. None of them answered.

Yusei glanced at Jack but addressed Goodwin. "We haven't seen anything out of the ordinary since the storm began."

"As I would expect," Goodwin said, almost smirking. "Even Dark Signers are cowed by weather such as this. Therefore, there is no reason for the two of _you_ to be out in it anymore, either."

Jack, about to take off into the storm once more, whirled back around. "What?"

Goodwin sighed impatiently. "Come inside, both of you. Go to sleep. You will need your rest before you go back to the mainland tomorrow."

Yusei hesitated. "If we're all asleep - "

"Everything will be fine. I sent Lazar back to New Domino - "

"Good," Yusei and Jack muttered.

" - and with the storm, this island is temporarily unreachable. Now come on in - you've left the door open."

"Yusei - Jack - come on." Akiza beckoned (now with Goodwin's opinion matching hers), while watching the clouds behind their heads, ever threatening. Yusei and Jack took one look at each other before complying - and, per Goodwin's request, shutting the door firmly behind them.

Akiza bid the two a wordless goodnight and went up the stairs to the room she shared with Luna. Luna lingered to hug both Yusei and Jack before the next _boom_ of thunder chased her upstairs, too.

Goodwin gave them one mysterious nod and vanished to who-knew-where.

The two young men proceeded to take off their raincoats. Silence didn't last.

"Say, Yusei."

"Yeah, Jack?"

Jack shook water out of his hair. "Do you think there was ever any threat out there in the first place? Or did Goodwin just want to see if we'd squirm out in the rain?"

Yusei placed the coat on the rack. "With Goodwin, who knows? ...Anyway, _I_ felt a threat."

"Yeah, you felt the lightning threatening to shave some of these spikes out of your hair."

Yusei grinned. It had been a long time since Jack had joked with him like that.

The next time lightning lit the dark, all five Signers were asleep.

* * *

A _supercell thunderstorm_ is classified by Wikipedia as being very rare but very severe when it does occur. They also say that it's characterized by a continually-rotating updraft. Their picture looks pretty cool.

Just imagine one of those hovering over the world that is New Domino and the Satellite.


	20. Tension

I'm actually typing this as I'm writing the rest of it. Another all-inclusive one, but this time they're seperate from one another. If that makes any sense.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Tension**-

They were all the same, Duel Academy and the Arcadia Movement. Still the Black Rose Witch felt lonely within both.

She was shunned at the Academy. Students whispered about her, the "freak psychic duelist", one of a kind. They avoided her. Teachers ignored her queries in class. A thick cloud of tension coated their words and actions. When they sent her away, citing half-thought-out excuses, she only expected it and more.

And then - Arcadia. Divine, her mentor. No longer being the only one with psychic abilities, but one of others, _many_ others, who _understood_...

Yet it wasn't enough. It was never enough.

The other duelists did not understand her. Her power easily outshone theirs. She could not communicate with them, no matter how hard she tried and they tried. Isolation bred jealousy and resentment on both sides. She was a stranger in a group that was supposed to be her haven. She was, once again, deeply wounded.

Akiza was so tired of wearing armor.

* * *

_So rebellious_.

Yusei Fudo was such a handful at times.

On a less-than-perfect day it could drive the Director insane. Dozens of Sector Security guards at his disposal, still more men and women with dueling decks half of them didn't deserve, and the boy's own _somehow superior_ deck could utterly destroy his opponents and even make allies out of some of them.

Now, in the present, he constantly asked Yusei Fudo-the-Signer to _stay put_, to _listen_, to _trust him_.

He forgot that the boy was not his father. This was not Professor Fudo, who lived a relaxed and dreamy life in the then-whole New Domino City. He and Professor Fudo had had a warm relationship, borne from years of working close together.

When Yusei locked those passionate, haunted blue eyes on him, he felt only tension and distrust like a biting, cold breeze, because they two did not know each other, really.

Rex Goodwin knew he could not connect a city and a satellite, and so he wished he could go back in time and erase Zero Reverse.

* * *

She barely knew her parents (they were absent so much), and so she had a problem connecting with those who did not offer themselves freely.

She did not need her psychic abilities to discern the warmth in Yusei's personality, the spark of hope he carried for the future despite all the suffering in his past. Akiza had always been similarly kind to her - even if she tended to wait until no one else was around.

But Jack Atlas was an island the majority of the time, and she had no boat to reach him. He was cold and sarcastic, and could even be cruel. He said little to her on a good day, and she liked staying out of his way.

And if Jack was an island, Director Goodwin was...

There was no one word or phrase. Goodwin could be kind and crueler than Jack, generous and stingy, open and secretive, friendly and exclusive, open- and closed-minded. He was an enigma, mysterious to all. Especially her - she who prided herself on knowing people.

Yet... while there was some tension between she and Jack or she and Goodwin, she didn't really think either of them _disliked_ her...

Luna resolved to reach out to the two Signers she felt most uncomfortable around - one way or another.

* * *

There were different kinds of tension and discomfort, and he had experienced opposites.

The days of King - ahhh, _King_. Respect tenfold, a hundredfold; adoring fans, personal servants, invulnerability to Sector Security such as he had never had before. His _own_ security when he wanted to go outside. Comfort. He exuded so much confidence then that people in the street trembled when he was near.

Now everything was different, and strange to him. Two years of luxury and he was thrust back under the bus by his best friend. The invincible King had been dethroned.

And so now he knew the _other_ type of tension, the more unfavorable part. That part which made his insides squirm and twist.

On an average day in New Domino City post-Fortune Cup, he was practically shunned. People went out of their way to keep out of his path in the streets. Few had the courage or even the decency to meet his eyes. Sometimes he was even sneered at, looked down upon by the very people who had once bowed down when he rode by.

Home was no better. Everything was awkward - the friends he had stepped on to ascend had long memories. His former opponents still swore revenge, and those who had sheltered him in the new city had also tossed him aside, like trash, the moment _he_ had become the New King.

Jack wanted to find his sixteen year-old self and warn him against trading friendship and loyalty for power.

* * *

"Out of my way, Satellite trash."

Such was how he would have been greeted, not so long ago. How bitterly he remembered it: being pushed aside while on crowded sidewalks, scorned, tailed relentlessly by Sector Security, denied entrance to New Domino when he was technically a citizen! The irony was hardly funny.

The reasons, though, were obvious. Before the outcome of the Fortune Cup, he was just another dirty Satellite to them. An average train of thought as the tournament unfolded would have gone like so: Wait - _him_? Yusei Fudo? Once friends with our _Duel King_, Jack? Well, that obviously had to be a lie, spread around by scum like him.

Such was his lot in life, it seemed.

But then he had won the tournament...

...And the tension in the tall, bright city with its cruel people had come to a fierce, open head. Cold glares and sneers became the kindest thing he endured after toppling their reigning monarch.

"Move, scum! You don't belong here."

"Go back to the trash dump you came from."

And he was banned from one shop and place of business after another with the same deep-scarring ferocity and animosity.

"You're no New King of _mine_."

Yet despite all this, he now fought assiduously to save all their miserable lives from the coming darkness - repaying cruelty with kindness, as it were.

Yusei looked up into the brightening sky toward an unfinished bridge and focused on the ever-present hope that everything would be better someday.


	21. Useless

This is _not_ actually an Akiza/Jack one. It felt like that when I wrote it, though. Eh?

So _many_ of these last ones have Jack in them...

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Useless**-

"Once upon a time..."

"Spare me the fairy tale."

Akiza smiled a private smile and ignored his ire. "...we were living lies. You with fame dishonestly earned and fragile, me with powers that made me an outcast and a freak."

Her casual self-degredation made Jack wince. "Don't. You aren't a... freak."

"I was only wanted by those who could use me. _You_ were only wanted as long as you performed the way they wanted you to."

Now Akiza stared off in the direction of the setting sun.

"But now has come the climax of our lives. You and I and the others are all united against forces that would kill us. That kind of bond is no lie."

Jack hummed in thought. "That means that... no matter what happens tomorrow..."

"We're finally free from the shackles of our old lives. At last, we're... important." Akiza felt her brown eyes burn with tears. She hugged herself close. "I'm not some useless thing anymore..."

He put his coat around her shoulders. His violet eyes were gentle. "_We're_ not useless. And so a happy ending can begin..."


	22. Venial

According to my dictionary, venial means "capable of being forgiven".

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Venial**-

Jack hated apologizing.

But for Yusei, he might do anything. They had been friends for so many years...

_Before I betrayed him._

People all seemed to think he was cold, but he _did_ have a heart. That heart had always twinged painfully when he thought of what he had done to Yusei and how he had done it. He had been wrong - and Martha had taught him that when he did wrong by someone, it was only right that he apologize. And mean it.

First, though, he had to find Yusei...

Who was, of course, on the balcony. Where else?

* * *

The wind blew through Yusei's hair.

It was so good to be outside. While he was hardly free, he was away from the darker politics of the lower house that was the center of New Domino City. Sometimes the atmosphere there was so _corrosive_...

"Yusei?"

The dark-haired boy flinched. Jack was infringing on the privacy he so seldom got anyway. People never seemed to realize that he needed time to think just like everyone else. Time to ponder... time to make decisions...

Time to condemn those who wronged him.

_What are you doing here, old friend?_

Jack was right behind him. "Yusei..."

Why had he bothered to ask, even to himself? He already knew.

"I... haven't been the man you befriended lately. It's been two years..."

_Oh, Jack. I've learned a lot that you haven't learned. About resentment, and about bitterness - and hope, too._

"... and I don't know how to talk to you anymore. That's my fault."

Yusei sighed. Apparently, sometimes one did not need a lot of time to forgive another.

"You don't have to apologize."

The blond was taken aback. "What? But... but... the things I did to you..."

"You're forgiven, Jack."

"No! I haven't - _earned_ forgiveness! I stole your Duel Runner!" Jack burst out, startling his former friend enough that he turned to face him. "I tricked you and then took Stardust Dragon from right under your nose! I went off and abandoned you to become famous... treated you like dirt..." Broken, he sank to the ground. How could he have done such things? "I'm... sorry..."

Yusei patted Jack's hair. "It's okay. It's all right." He pulled Jack to his feet, straightened him out. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. "You don't have to do this. I know you, Jack, and I know you have a good heart. I've forgiven you everything."

"Yusei...you shouldn't have."

"But I wanted to."

They stood in silence after that, letting the wind blow them around. Jack wanted _so badly_ to defend himself (though no defense was possible), but Yusei had cut off every avenue he'd planned to take by simply letting their past go.

Actually, it was kind of... annoying.

"For heaven's sake, Yusei!" Jack huffed. "I came here to pour my guilt out to you - I had a whole speech prepared - and you're cutting it off at the knees! I should _punch_ you! In fact, once we get down from here, I think I will!"

Yusei smiled. Apologies hadn't done a thing to help them, but... Now _that_ was his old friend.


	23. Winsome

...Yeah, and winsome is... (checks) "sweetly or innocently charming; winning; engaging". Describes Luna, eh?

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Winsome**-

Little girls...

Rex Goodwin had never known that they were something to ponder.

He usually spent the bulk of his time taking aspirin for the migranes delinquent boys gave him. Either that or disinterestedly watching city cameras. Goodwin had no patience for dissent _or_ disobedient men.

Women were another matter - a thoroughly confusing one. Mina frequently irritated him (though not as much as Lazar, to be honest). He reserved a whole other cabinet of aspirin for female reporters like Michelle and Carly Nagisa. Yet Akiza, and her alternate persona the Black Rose Witch, greatly amused him.

As for young boys... he thought of Leo and left it at that.

But young girls he did not think of. They might be cute, but if they were Rex would be the last to notice. He might have protested the idea that Luna of all people was a Signer, once - if not for her twin, he would have had no known leverage to use as... well, _incentive_... to get her to join.

And yet Luna was different again...

She was shy around him, which was understandable. She spoke little among the five of them as it was, and mostly to Yusei and Akiza. Unlike the latter, she did not loathe her powers - she instead remained in awe of them. Luna continued, too, to try and bond with Jack when he was not shooting glares at everyone younger than eighteen.

And she tried to endear herself to _him_, too.

Often Goodwin would be walking around his mansion when a short green-haired girl would join him quietly, and do what he did. She listened more attentively to his words than did the other three combined. And overall she was most trusting of him.

Still, Jack _was_ holding out well against similar bonding attempts from Luna.

But _goodness_, Goodwin thought, if it wasn't hard to resist that winsome little girl and her nervous smile and innocent gray eyes.


	24. Xenophobia

Wow. Review boom. (laughs) Thanks are in order, yes?

Thanks to **exleader75 **(interesting? Really? *sniffs gratefully*) and **Teal Phoenix **(by the way, your form of delicacy made me laugh, and you have a deal), and of COURSE **Jen Kritique** who's been with this fic since she was **KnightxXxWitch** (...right?). Wow, how many letters ago was that?

Love you all! I'll be writing Y and Z when I go home today. YES!

'Xenophobia' is defined by _my_ dictionary as follows: an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of anything foreign or strange.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Xenophobia**-

_I hate this place_, Yusei thought bitterly. _All the hate... all the discrimination... I don't know why I _ever_ wanted to leave Satellite for this._

The reason he could not simply wash his hands of it all was now walking up to him, most likely wearing a self-satisfied smile.

"I have most likely gained many gray hairs finding you, and giving you what you wanted by keeping you here instead of deporting you to the Satellite," Rex Goodwin mused, tapping one foot. "Tell me, why do I still sense dissatisfaction from you?"

Yusei turned on the older man. "What I _wanted_ was my card back, my dignity restored, and a future here someday. But I've got my card - I no longer want anything from this cruel, disgusting city."

Goodwin smiled mysteriously. "Some would say the same about Satellite."

"_Goodwin!_" Yusei stormed. "That's exactly what I _mean_."

"Explain."

"Glad to." He thrust out with one gloved hand. "This _city_ is a festering disease. I didn't think it was possible to be treated worse here than I was in Satellite, but compared to _here_ they were singing my praises back home! And they dare to call _us_ trash..."

The Director winced. "While I applaud your eloquence in proving your point, Yusei, I must insist that you are simply not seeing the full picture."

"Oh, I'm not?" Sarcasm was thick in his voice.

And Goodwin surprised him by giving a low sigh, as though exhausted. "Let me explain this to you in the way I learned of it," he said, and Yusei detected in his own heart a sense of foreboding. "I will take you through the life of a child born into providence.

"When a child is born here, it is nutured and cared for to the point of spoilage. From the earliest age of comprehension, they are taught of Satellite's existence - in fact, some mothers use it to scare their toddlers. In order to eliminate any sympathy they might feel for their Satellite cousins, parents tell their children that the people who live there are the lowest of the low in society, a collection of criminals to be scorned and kept down. Most New Domino citizens have never bothered to meet a Satellite citizen and find out otherwise.

"And so they grow up, pampered the whole way." He spread his hands out wide. "Little contact with the Satellite other than major crimes reported on the news means that the lies they were told as children fester and grow, with no opposition. Disgust sours and becomes hatred for anyone new or strange, particularly if they look bedraggled... And fear lies buried within as well."

"Fear?"

"Yusei. Jack has been raised by New Domino these past two years. Did you think he came to despise you on his own? The citizens fear anyone who might be a challenge to their superiority, and hate their so-called 'lack of class' in the bargain. These together are the source of all the animosity you face each day."

Yusei slumped brokenly. Sarcasm shattered, and was replaced by bitterness. "You could have changed their minds."

"Why, certainly, if invading an entire population's mind and dictating to them were also possible." (The boy was not the only master of sarcasm.)

Yusei made his tone more forceful. "You should have stopped this. You _could_ have. Instead you chose to step aside."

Goodwin shrugged his suit-covered shoulders. "Perhaps I did. Perhaps I could have stopped their minds from forming their own conclusions. But words would mean nothing to you, Yusei, or the other Satellites who suffered their kinsmen's hatred. I know this - Jack was under my care for two years, and seldom did we have any other conversation."

_He always mentions that. Every time we talk..._ It was as though the man was trying to apologize in some way. Did he imagine that Yusei was jealous of what Jack had had? Did he think Yusei _regretted_ not being chosen to betray his friends?

"I sometimes wish that I had invited _you_ to New Domino... instead of Jack."

Yusei blanched, and then covered it with brusque words. "I wouldn't have come. My friends are more important than this city. Than _any_ city."

"And if I _had_ changed the city before inviting you?"

"Why do you want to _know_? Yusei fumed. "What does it matter? What's done is done. The past is in the past, Goodwin. It can't be changed, no matter how much we might wish otherwise."

Goodwin gazed at Yusei and saw another man with not-as-dark hair and pale blue eyes. "No, I suppose it... can't."

"I won't leave, because you say I'm needed here. But that doesn't mean I have to say after everything's done... or like it while I'm here."

_Really,_ Goodwin thought, _one would think a smart young man like Yusei could see that a tiny flaw like class tension bows to what is necessary to keep many people safe from harm._

And Yusei thought, _As long as he places 'what we all need' and 'what is good for all' above basic human character and dignity, we'll never see eye-to-eye._

They walked off side by side, but they could not have been farther apart.


	25. Yours

...Yeah, I'm not going to be writing any forewords or afterwords on letter Z. You'll just be allowed to enjoy.

Thanks to: **Jen Kritique** and **Teal Phoenix** for last chapter's reviews, as well as all past, present and future reviewers!

A question for you all: if letter 'N', _Nadir_, was the Signers' lowest point, what then will Z be...? Hee-hee.

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Yours**-

"Here. For you."

Jack blinked incredulously. "What, this? But it's..."

Luna blushed.

"I know it's not much. But I thought... maybe you'd like to give it to someone special."

His face reddened. "Well... I ... just..." He pulled himself together upon noticing the girl's downtrodden expression. "Luna. I like your gift."

Her eyes brightened. "You do?"

Luna's 'gift' was a silver locket, held on a long, pearl-blue chain. It had a small round "door" which opened to a space just right for a photo.

"I do. It means a lot to me, that you would give me this... isn't it yours?"

Luna nodded shyly. "My father gave it to my mother... he told her it meant that he considered her special. They got married a few months after he gave it to her. I used to play with it when I was younger."

The mental image of a young, innocent Luna playing with a locket made Jack smile. "Don't... give me something so precious."

"But I _want_ to, Jack." Her eyes were wide and trusting, ever a child's. "You're my friend... and I'd like you to give it to someone you care about. So it's yours."

Jack wrestled with himself, but finally _did_ accept the little girl's heartfelt gift. Even as he put it around his own neck, he imagined putting a picture of himself in it and then hanging it around the neck of... His face heated again.

Unfortunately, Luna caught him in the act.

"Are you going to put a picture of yourself in it?" she asked, very innocently.

"I might." _Why won't this stupid blush go away?_

"Will you give it to a girl?" Still innocent.

"If I fancy one." What _was_ she leading up to?

Luna now smiled slyly, and dropped her bomb. "How about Carly?"

_What? I - I - she - how does she - ?_

Jack growled in half-shock, half-disgruntlement.

"Why, you! You've been spying on me. Thought you could soften me up with a gift, then find out whether or not I'm interested in Carly! Just when I was convinced that you were nothing but cute and fluffy..."

He leapt for Luna, who squealed and ran. While he was secretly amused at her tactics for trying to gain sympathy, there was no way he would ever tell _her_ that.

"You devious little girl!"

"Eeee!" Luna ducked, then yelped as he scooped her up and swung her around. "Jack, Jack! I'm sorry! I won't spy on you again! I promise!"

"I don't believe you." He shook her, playfully.

"Di-i-i-izzy!"

"That doesn't faze me."

"Ja-a-a-ack! Come on, let me down! I _promised!_"

* * *

"It's yours."

Carly Nagisa's glasses fell off her nose when she jumped in surprise (Jack caught them), displaying her wide blue eyes. "Jack! What is... where... ?"

"A locket, with my picture... so I can be with you always. At least then you'll stay out of trouble." He chucked her gently on her dark-green head. "From a friend."

She sighed as Jack placed it just as gently around her neck. "It's so beautiful. And it came from a friend?"

"A cute one."

"Oh, Jack!" Carly laughed, knowing his brand of humor even when others did not. Then her eyes blinked several times in wonder. "It's just... amazing."

His violet eyes gleamed. "And it has quite a promising history..."


	26. Zenith

...

* * *

-Of Few Words-

* * *

-**Zenith**-

The sun shone down on the top of the world.

From the height of the tallest building, one could be sovereign of all they could see - from the shining layout of a city to its large, newly-bustling satellite, and the blue horizon line that stretched into the beyond. Yet there was not merely one person atop that building, but five.

Yusei Fudo's deep blue eyes sought New Satellite on the horizon. He smiled, and sat down with his long legs dangling carelessly over the edge of the building. _More beautiful than it had been before_, he had instructed, and the workers had all outdone themselves - himself included. The wind blew toward him, through his hair, carrying the scent of new flowers already blooming in the reunited cities. "Nice day," he said simply, and meant it for the first time in years.

A grin materialized on the face of one Jack Atlas; he shed his coat and threw it to who-knew-what corner. He, too, looked out on the city. Somewhere, he knew, children were playing and mingling as they had not done since their parents had been born. Those he loved, _all_ of them (old and new), were for the first time safe and well-treated.

Akiza Izayoi stopped a few feet from the edge. Seeing her, Yusei got to his feet quickly; but she was briefly busy releasing her long hair from a new ponytail holder, and did not notice. By the time she had finished, he had his fingers in her rose-colored locks too. She chuckled; he had been more affectionate lately. That, and helping counsel fellow psychics and find new homes for them, had kept her both busy and happy. "Thank you," she whispered gently to him, and meant it: _with the Arcadia Movement dissolved, you've been my anchor. And you didn't have to be._

"You're welcome." He didn't have to be a psychic to know what she was referring to - only a friend.

Someone tugged on Yusei's pant leg; he looked down and then laughed as Luna leapt into his arms. "Ah - hey, Luna."

"Yusei! Akiza! Jack!" Her greenish-gold eyes sparkled with happy tears. She looked a mess, but, too, happier than she had been in months. "My brother! Leo! I found my brother! He's safe! Leo..."

She was so bubbly that her powers activated of their own volition - her shield would materialize and vanish in ways that made the young adults laugh.

"We are victorious."

The laughter stopped. Luna hopped down from her perch on Yusei's arm as her Mark started to burn; Yusei, his Mark now burning too, focused his gaze on the new speaker. Indeed, Rex Goodwin was at his side in a matter of moments, his mechanical arm out in a sweeping gesture over the city.

"The evaluation is done. Not a trace of the darkness of death remains in the city - either of them. The Dark Signers are finished, and we have won."

His gray eyes gleamed. The Head Birthmark in the case behind him gleamed, too.

Luna gazed up at him. "The cities are safe?"

"Everything is safe," he reassured her. "For a few thousand years, anyway."

Jack hummed, ultimately satisfied. For once, he consented to take the lead from Yusei instead of cutting his own (often more flawed) path. There was nothing for him to do, no one to boss around, no one false or misleading around him. It felt... nice.

Akiza tightened her grip on Yusei's arm ever-so-slightly. While she knew that he would hardly jerk away from her, or something equally silly, she wanted only to be near him now. It was good to hear that the city was completely safe at last - and from the looks of it, doing better than ever before - but that was not her prime concern. _That_ lay with the dark-haired young man whose smiles kept her functioning these days.

Meanwhile, Luna was content in the knowledge that not only was her brother home and recovering slowly, but their parents were overseeing every moment of it. She knew she would be very happy when she went home.

The Crimson Dragon appeared above their heads - it circled to Akiza, then Luna, and then flew off with a piercing cry of victory, toward the... was that where Yusei _thought_ it was?

Goodwin put a hand (the real one) on Yusei's shoulder. "Anything is possible now." And he nodded toward Daedalus Bridge.

_A promise._

And as the sun shone fiercely, triumphantly, and the five Signers stood on top of the world and rejoiced, Yusei decided that it was a promise he could live for.


End file.
